Albuquerque CVB Guide - (Page 40) I n 1931, a book titled Historic Cookery first appeared in New Mexico. The author, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert, was born in 1894 to a prominent Hispanic family and raised near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Many of the recipes in the Cookery were heirlooms from her family and others were collected from Pueblos in Northern New Mexico. The cookbook contributed to the popularization of cooking with chile and includes over 80 traditional recipes for food staples such as frijoles, tamales, chile rellenos, huevos rancheros, empanadas and calabacitas con chile verde. Typically in traditional cooking there were no set rules for the preparation of food. Rather, the cook was expected to learn the recipes from relatives. One of the great contributions of Historic Cookery is that for the first time the non-native cook was given exact amounts and measurements for the preparation of New Mexican food. Cabeza de Baca Gilbert’s historic cookbook may have been the first written account, but New Mexico’s current mestizo (mixed) food culture has been evolving for thousands of years and is as complex as history itself. Traditional and sacred foods of the 19 Pueblos and Navajo people such as corn, mutton and squash influence Spanish food preparations, which mix with Mexican (after all, New Mexico was Mexico until 1848) and in turn combine with the most recent arrival of the Anglo palate. The influences reverberate back, and hence there are Pueblo enchiladas, corn tortillas made specifically with cheese and red chile only, or Indian frybread and Mexican sopaipillas; both delicious, deep fried, puffed breads. Interested in tasting this rich history of flavors? Local independent restaurants that promote the use of produce from numerous surrounding farms define good food in Albuquerque. The bounty of New Mexico is manifested on the plate in the form of www.itsatrip.org ©Eric Swanson 40 http://www.itsatrip.org
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